The Good Daughters

A Novel

De: Joyce Maynard

Narrado por: Joyce Maynard, Rebecca Tuttle, Jeff Woodman

The best-selling author of Labor Day returns with a spellbinding novel about friendship, family secrets, and the strange twists of fate that shape our lives

The good daughters: they were born on the same day, in the same small New Hampshire hospital, into families that could hardly have been less alike. Ruth Plank is an artist and a romantic with a rich, passionate, imaginative life. The last of five girls born to a gentle, caring farmer and his stolid wife, she yearns to soar beyond the confines of the land that has been her family's birthright for generations.

Dana Dickerson is a scientist and realist whose faith is firmly planted in the natural world. Raised by a pair of capricious drifters who waste their lives on failed dreams, she longs for stability and rootedness.

Different in nearly every way, Ruth and Dana share a need to make sense of who they are and to find their places in a world in which neither has ever truly felt she belonged. They also share a love for Dana's wild and beautiful older brother, Ray, who will leave an indelible mark on both their hearts.

Told in the alternating voices of Ruth and Dana, The Good Daughters follows these "birthday sisters" as they make their way from the 1950s to the present. Master storyteller Joyce Maynard chronicles the unlikely ways the two women's lives parallel and intersect - childhood and adolescence to first loves, first sex, marriage, and parenthood; from the deaths of parents to divorce, the loss of home, and the loss of a beloved partner - until past secrets and forgotten memories unexpectedly come to light, forcing them to reevaluate themselves and each other.

Moving from rural New Hampshire to a remote island in British Columbia to the '70s Boston art-school scene, The Good Daughters is an unforgettable story about the ties of home and family, the devastating force of love, the healing power of forgiveness, and the desire to know who we are.

©2010 Joyce Maynard (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

A fascinating and suspenseful read!

Loved this book. it was one of the best books I have ever read! I will remember the author and look for any book written by her.

Gentle but moving story that flowed and pieced characters together.

Loving the characters and how their learning of each one of their character traits came to be and then evolved. Some of the in-depth background surrounding the growing of specific crops could be shortened but overall the story flowed beautifully. Loved several of the layerings of individual personalities.

A Piece of Americana

Where does The Good Daughters rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

This was a heart wrenching story. On the surface it seems simple. Family secrets are never simple. They change lives in ways no one can predict.

Finding Themselves

I enjoyed this story with its twists and turns. The theme of genetic farming techniques and the human traits of the characters in the book was a unique blend

So close to home

I have recently discovered family secrets of my own that - after a fashion - are mirrored in the story Joyce Maynard tells here. For that reason, I’m certain this fictional tale held an even deeper place in my heart than it would have had the similarities not been there. All of that being true, I can’t imagine not being drawn into this beautiful and heartbreaking story. The layers developed in each of the central characters are so well done, I’d often fall asleep thinking of these folks as if they were real people, wondering what they were doing today. If you are a fan of nature and especially New England, you’ll love the way the author describes that part of our beautiful world. The main love story, at least the one I think of that way, is heart wrenching. But the way it all comes together in the end, is perfect. I’ll be listening to this one again someday soon.

Disappointing

The family secret on which this plot hung was obvious after only a few minutes. Even the final twist on the secret was obvious early on. This would have been a far more interesting book if Joyce Maynard had revealed it all to the reader in a prologue and developed the characters within that framework.

That said, the plot was poignant, and the characters were generally likable through most of the book. It seemed a shame, though, to learn near the end that perhaps the most likable character was guilty of making a truly monstrous decision years before, rather than having been as much victim as everyone else. I was left feeling cheated by that revelation after investing too much in a character capable of something so awful. Again, had we known of this character's actions at the outset and seen the flaws, contradictions and complexities developed during the course of the book, I think it might have been possible to come away with affection for the character intact.

Maynard captures the setting and era well. Overall, I think The Good Daughters is worth a listen. I only wish the potential in its premise had been more fully realized.

Great Story. One of Maynard's best.

What did you love best about The Good Daughters?

Engaging, great character development and an interesting premise. It also spans history reminiscent, though more brief, of Forrest Gump.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Good Daughters?

Woodstock and Canada.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would find in brief break to steal a listen, at times to the point, of seeming rude.

Good story

I liked this story very much. Sometimes it was hard to follow who was who but I eventually did.

No headline

I felt like I was at home in this story. The magic is in making you feel at home, not in the arc of the story.

Excellent narration, good story, except for.....

I loved the narration, the writing was excellent, and this could have been a (5) star rating except for.....well, I don't want to give away the pivotal plot twist ( although it's pretty blatant ), but it was just a little too much to accept, and too many coincidences throughout the story. I like this author, an excellent writer, and if you can go with the glaring plot misstep, and the too-neat ending, it's a good book.